CLAYTON COUNTY, Ga. — A man who was shot after meeting someone on Facebook to sell an iPhone says he thought he was going to die.
Channel 2's Tom Jones was the only reporter on the scene when a Clayton County SWAT team arrived at the home of the man accused of pulling the trigger and watched him attempt to escape through a second floor window.
"I looked down the barrel. That was the scariest part," said the 18-year-old college student, who we are not identifying.
Soon after that's when he says he was shot: all over an iPhone.
"I was like, 'Ah! You shot me!' Then he looked surprised because I thought he thought I was going to be dead," he said.
Clayton County police say 18-year-old Rico Arnold pulled the trigger. That's something he denied.
"No sir. I promise you sir. I promise you I didn't have nothing to do with this," he said after being led from his home in handcuffs.
It was around 4:30 a.m. Thursday when Clayton County's SWAT team went to Arnold's home to arrest him.
"The young man is dangerous," Clayton County Deputy Chief Mike Register said.
Police used two flash bangs to stun those inside his home on Jenson Drive. That's when they said Arnold tried to sneak out of his second floor bedroom window.
"Show me your hands. Show me your hands now," an officer screamed.
"What's going on sir?" Arnold replied, before going back inside the home where he was taken into custody.
Police said they also discovered the shotgun described by the victim under Arnold's bed.
Officers said Arnold met the victim on Facebook and arranged to meet him at a home just a few houses from where Arnold actually lives.
The victim had no idea it was abandoned. He said that's when Arnold shot him and was about to shoot him again.
"After I begged him not to shoot me he went in my car and got the phones," he said.
Investigators say excellent police work helped them track down Arnold. They say he used a fake name on the Facebook account.
But a detective was able to uncover his real identity, officers say.
The victim has this message to anyone buying or selling after meeting someone online: "If you want to do it go down to the police station."
And that's the advice Clayton County Police Chief Greg Porter wants to share. He wants people making these transactions to use the Police Department's parking lot for everyone's safety.
The victim said he's lucky to be alive.
"I'm happy they got him got him off the street so he won't do it to nobody else," he said.
Arnold faces armed robbery, aggravated assault, aggravated battery and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony.
WSBTV
